Peter Weber via Instagram Peter Weber
After Peter Weber’s Bachelorette elimination aired on night one of the season 15 finale, Peter captured the hearts of fans yet again with a heartful and genuine live interview on the Bachelorette studio couch with Chris Harrison. After his interview and amiable conversation with Hannah Brown, many took to social media to “nominate” Peter to be next season’s Bachelor, including Colton Underwood.
Monday night’s Bachelorette finale picked up where last week’s events in Greece left off: at a rose ceremony where Hannah had a decision to make and another contestant to eliminate. She ultimately chose to send Peter home, and their goodbyes were the most emotional of the season.
The episode then cut back to the live studio audience and host Chris Harrison, who was joined by Peter (and his family) for an emotional interview. He talked to Harrison about how he believed it was going to be him and Hannah in the end and how he was doing getting over the breakup and reliving their relationship as each episode aired. When Hannah joined him on-stage, she told him she didn’t have a concrete reason why she eliminated him except for that he wasn’t fully open with her emotionally. He gracefully said that he tried to be as authentic with her as possible the entire time, but also didn’t want to force anything. If the live interview and confrontation was an audition for potential Bachelor candidacy, Peter Weber passed with flying colors.
After Peter’s live appearance during the episode, Underwood shared a photo of himself adjusting a pilot wings pin on his shirt, with the caption “I hear pilots make good bachelors.” Since Peter is a commercial airline pilot by profession, the post seemed to be a cheeky endorsement from last season’s Bachelor to make Weber the franchise’s next. The comments section for the post was quickly flooded with fan comments agreeing that Peter should be The Bachelor, and the hashtag “#peterforbachelor” began to trend.
The Bachelor producers almost always chose their stars out of a small crop of rejected contestants from past seasons, usually a final four man from the previous season of The Bachelorette. If they stick with that formula, Peter would certainly fit the role.
Tanner Tolbert, another Bachelor Nation alum, joked in the comments “Anyone who watched Jake Pavelka’s season disagrees…” His comment is in reference to season 14 of The Bachelor, which starred American pilot Jake Pavelka. Pavelka’s relationship with his pick, Vienna Girardi, quickly went sour in a very public break-up.
Although Tolbert’s comment was not a vote against Peter, the Bachelor fandom has another favorite who has risen as a front-runner for next season’s title of The Bachelor: Mike Johnson. Johnson was eliminated before the hometown dates, but so did Hannah on Underwood’s season. He certainly has won over many of the franchise’s fans and would make history as the first black Bachelor.
Whether the next Bachelor is Peter Weber, Mike Johnson, or someone else entirely, don’t expect to know by the end of The Bachelorette season 15’s “After the Final Rose” live special. Chris Harrison revealed to Entertainment Tonight “I will break this news: you will not get [the Bachelor announcement] at the finale.” He later explained “It would be premature to make the call now, before [Bachelor in Paradise]. It wouldn’t be smart at all… there’s guys you haven’t seen yet.”